Charley Hull tips next Solheim Cup captain

You can’t be certain about many things in golf these days, but Charley Hull’s involvement in a Solheim Cup is as much of a guarantee as you’re going to get.

Hull may only be 28 but she is already a veteran of golf’s most fiery rivalry and, on a personal level, her sixth straight Solheim was up there with her very best.

Finishing as Europe’s top points scorer with three in the 15.5-12.5 defeat to Team USA at the Robert Trent Jones Club, her thrashing of world No.1 Nelly Korda in Sunday singles was arguably the standout performance of the whole match. The box-office Englishwoman feels an indispensable member of the European locker room.

Which is why, of course, Hull’s take on who Suzann Pettersen’s successor for the 2026 match in the Netherlands should be carries so much weight.

Pettersen will step aside after presiding over a draw and defeat as captain, with the next contest taking place at Bernadus Golf near Eindhoven in two years’ time.

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And Hull has made it clear that her 37-year-old compatriot Mel Reid, one of Pettersen’s assistants in this year’s match, would be a perfect fit for the captaincy role.

“I don’t know really. I feel like… I honestly feel that Mel Reid would make a great captain,” Hull said, speaking at this week’s Kroger Queen City Championship on the LPGA Tour.

“When I knew she was going to be one of the assistant captains this time round I was absolutely buzzing. Mel is one of my favourite people on this planet.

“She gets me; I get her. She’s so much fun. She is a good laugh. She can be serious when she needs to be. She brings a lot of the atmosphere to the team. I feel like she would be a great captain.”

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Hull also floated the name of Anna Nordqvist, the wily veteran who has not missed a Solheim Cup match since 2009. With two points, the Swede was one of Europe’s strong performers in Virginia.

“But I feel like she should still be in the next Solheim Cup,” Hull added. “I don’t know if you can have a playing captain. I don’t know really. I don’t take a look too much. It will be an interesting one.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.